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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27582832">all the daughters of my father's house</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/soundsandsweetairs/pseuds/soundsandsweetairs'>soundsandsweetairs</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>all the daughters [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Muppet Treasure Island (1996), Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Betrayal incoming, Canon Era, F/F, Jim's got a crushhhhh, Pre-Femslash, Reimagining a few scenes from the movie, Rule 63, listen I am just a simple woman who is really REALLY into lady!silver</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 22:22:19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,980</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27582832</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/soundsandsweetairs/pseuds/soundsandsweetairs</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Though she’d dreamt of going to sea, she’d never thought it was possible. She was a girl, after all. And girls didn’t belong on ships.</i>
</p><p>Jemima Hawkins disguises herself as a boy to join the voyage to Treasure Island. She's shocked to find that the ship's cook is a woman, fierce and charismatic. But all is not as it seems, and Jim faces a terrible betrayal.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jim Hawkins &amp; John Silver, Jim Hawkins/John Silver, Jim Hawkins/Long John Silver, Jim Hawkins/Long John Silver (Muppets)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>all the daughters [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2195754</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jim — sometimes known as Jemima — Hawkins stepped onto the deck of the <em> Hispaniola, </em> a little uneasy. She’d never done anything like this before; her childhood had been spent under Mrs Bluveridge’s grimy thumb, clearing dishes in return for table scraps. Though she’d dreamt of going to sea, of course, she’d never thought it was possible. She was a girl, after all. And girls didn’t belong on ships. </p><p>Jim was rather impressed by her own bravery — dressing as a boy, accompanying her friends to Squire Trelawney’s, and now, miraculously, winning a place as a cabin boy aboard the voyage. The fear of discovery couldn’t dim her excitement at the opportunity. </p><p>She fidgeted with her loose-fitting boy’s shirt and shifted uncomfortably at the compression from the binding underneath. At fifteen, Jim’s body was only starting to change. This would have been an easier endeavour a year earlier, when she was still flat as a board. Jim tried to slouch into a casually masculine posture. She wasn’t sure she succeeded. </p><p>The sea air in Bristol carried a sense of anticipation as Jim felt the rocking of the ship under her feet. She’d longed for this moment forever! Seagulls called loudly all around, as though they shared in her excitement. </p><p>Trelawney spotted Jim, Gonzo, and Rizzo, and directed that they should go below. “Hello, gentlemen! You’ll find Silver, the ship’s cook, down in the galley.”</p><p>Mr Arrow, whom Jim found a rather imposing figure, harrumphed at the mention of Silver. Jim’s brow creased. Didn’t Arrow approve of the cook?</p><p>Jim tentatively climbed down the stairs into the dark interior of the <em> Hispaniola. </em> The smell of cooking meat wafted up. Behind her, Rizzo made a sound of anticipation, which made Jim roll her eyes. He was nothing if not predictable.</p><p>Jim squinted into the dim galley and spotted the cook, who moved nimbly around the room. Jim got an impression of long dark hair streaked with grey, sensible sailor’s garb, and hands that quickly flew between tasks. </p><p>“Hello, sir—” Jim offered, which made the cook bark out a laugh and turn. Jim felt her face slacken in surprise. Silver was a <em> woman! </em> </p><p>Her features were sharp and intelligent. One eyebrow arched as she looked over Jim. Jim’s eyes caught on her mouth, which had a wicked twist to it. How was this possible! Jim had heard her whole life about the bad luck that women brought to sea voyages. She’d resigned herself to never being able to sail unless she wore a disguise. And yet here was the cook, unapologetic in the way she carried herself, limping her way over to them with a swivel in her hips. </p><p>In her shock, Jim almost didn’t notice the cook’s single leg. Silver threw back her head and laughed at the look on Jim’s face. </p><p>“No one warned you, did they? Welcome, boys. I be Johanna Silver, cook aboard this fine vessel. And no, your eyes do not deceive you, I'm no man — there are more women sailing the seas than you might imagine!” She winked. </p><p>Jim stuttered out a hello. She could see Gonzo trying to make eye contact in her peripheral vision. </p><p>“We’re the cabin boys, er, Miss Silver.”</p><p>Silver chuckled. <em> “Miss Silver! </em> I be no schoolteacher, nor governess! Johanna be what my friends call me, if you please.”</p><p>Jim nodded, wide-eyed. She had never met anyone so vibrant and so intimidating in her whole life. Silver showed them around the galley, and was just getting ready to launch into a tour of the ship, when the bell that indicated the captain’s arrival sounded. </p><p>“Well, lads, sounds like we had better get up on deck.” She smiled down at them. “Happy to have the lot of you. You’ll get your sea-legs under you in no time!”</p><p>Jim found herself in a bit of a daze as they waited for the captain to arrive. A lady cook! Who’d have thought!</p><p>——</p><p>Jim spotted Trelawney and Captain Smollett chatting up on the quarterdeck as the ship got underway. She glanced around and sidled up to them. </p><p>“Ah, Jim! What can I do for you?” Trelawney was jovial as ever.</p><p>Jim fidgeted, a little embarrassed that she was asking. “Silver is — a woman! I didn’t expect it.”</p><p>Trelawney chuckled. “Is young Master Hawkins flustered by the <em> lady?” </em> He raised his eyebrows. Jim reddened. That wasn’t it at all! “Well, as I was lining up a crew, everyone I talked to said that while it might be bad luck to have a woman on the ship, it would be worse luck to not have Silver aboard! With that sort of endorsement, how could I not hire her?”</p><p>The captain, who had been listening, grimaced. “I’m less confident that she’s such an asset to the voyage. Quite frankly, this crew seems to be teeming with cutthroats and blackguards, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all to find that Silver is among them!”</p><p>Jim’s eyes flickered between the two of them; she’d clearly stepped into something that was a bit of a standing argument.</p><p>“Nonsense!” Trelawney sputtered. “Jim, you have my word that Silver will steer you right. You can absolutely rely on her; I’d stake — well — the <em> Hispaniola </em>herself on it!”</p><p>Jim made her excuses as Smollett and Trelawney launched back into their argument. At least in the galley she didn’t need to worry about the confusing politics that were apparently involved in lining up a crew.</p><p>——</p><p>“Can I tell you something?” The stars — <em> Polaris, </em> Jim now knew — beamed down on them from up above. They were a few weeks into the voyage, and Jim had come to trust Silver, who’d been patient with her as she learnt the ropes. Jim thought, <em> hoped, </em> that they were kindred spirits of a sort. </p><p>Silver’s eyes flickered to Jim. “Of course, lad.”</p><p>Jim worried at her bottom lip with her teeth. “It’s a secret. You promise you won’t tell anyone?”</p><p>“Not a soul, on my honour.” Silver leant in. Her face was serious, and there was a glint in her eye. Jim took a breath. </p><p>“I’m not a boy.” It was a relief to say it; the secret had been living tight and uneasy in Jim’s gut since they'd left Bristol. Silver looked surprised, as if she’d expected Jim to say something else. </p><p>“No?”</p><p>“I dressed up because I didn’t think Trelawney would let a girl come on as a cabin boy. Even though it was me who brought him—” Jim stopped herself just in time. “Never mind.” <em> Just because I trust her enough to tell her about this, doesn’t mean I should tell her about the map! </em> “I didn’t expect that there’d be a woman on the ship.” She looked shyly at Silver. “I thought you’d understand.”</p><p>Silver put a warm hand on Jim’s back. “Well, I’m honoured that you’ve told me, Jim.” She paused and cocked her head. “Is there something else I should call you? When it be just the two of us?”</p><p>Jim smiled at her. “No, Jim is good.” She'd gone by the nickname before, even, and preferred it to her full name.</p><p>“Alright then.” Silver’s thumb rubbed briefly over Jim’s spine. Jim shivered, though she wasn’t sure why. The night was warm. </p><p>Silver looked up at the sky, considering. “You know, I didn’t dream of becoming a cook when I was a young lass.”</p><p>“You didn’t?”</p><p>Silver shook her head. “I wanted to captain a ship. Brave Johanna Silver, standing fiercely at the helm, striking fear into the hearts of her enemies!” Jim could picture it. Her dark hair would whip behind her in the wind, and her green eyes would glint with victory. Silver sighed. “Course, eventually I learned that, because I wasn’t a man, my dream was impossible. I’ve had to fight to be here at all, and it’s likely I’ll never be more than a lowly cook. Not that I dislike my position! But it’s not what I pictured for myself when I was a girl.”</p><p>Jim frowned. It wasn’t fair! “I think you’d be a great captain.”</p><p>“Aye, that I would, Jim.” Silver smiled grimly. Jim saw the losses that she’d accepted through her life, written in the lines on her face. She quirked an eyebrow. “Who knows, maybe it’s not an impossible dream yet! Stranger things have happened on this wide ocean.”</p><p>Jim nodded as a quiet, melancholy air drifted over them. The waves were loud against the hull of the ship. Jim felt so lucky, to be here with as incredible a person as Silver — if only the rest of the world could see it!</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm anticipating that this will have a second chapter, with a few other canon-era scenes. And I'm certainly hoping to write some post-canon stuff in this 'verse as well!</p><p>Title is from <i>Twelfth Night</i>, because I'm predictable as hell.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jim flinched at the crew’s rough hands as they shoved her around. The blindfold was tied so tightly across her eyes that it was painful. Jim’s mind flickered between every possible bad outcome. She wondered with terror whether Silver would tell the pirate crew Jim’s secret. She didn’t want to think about what they might do to her if they knew she was a girl. </p><p>“Enough!” Jim gasped at the familiar voice, gravelly and commanding.</p><p>The blindfold was yanked away from her face, and she blinked at Silver, who was resplendent in red and black. The gold trim on her coat gleamed in the firelight. Her eyes were dramatically kohl-lined, and her smile appeared even sharper than usual, teeth white behind her lips. Jim hated her, hated her, hated her.</p><p>“Welcome, Jim, to our enterprising company!” Laughter danced in her eyes. Jim glared back, stony-faced. How dare Silver act as if this was just some fun between friends! She had betrayed Jim, betrayed the trust she’d put in her.</p><p>Silver’s words were cajoling as she attempted to sway Jim to forget about the captain and the squire and join her scurvy band of buccaneers. “After all, Jim, we be the rightful owners of that treasure! Captain Smollett never did shed his own blood to secret the treasure here, did he? By what right does he deserve it?” Her voice dripped with disdain.</p><p>“And how did you get the treasure in the first place? By legitimate means?” Jim knew she had the right of it.</p><p>Silver gave her a look that was half-pitying, half-understanding. “There be no such thing as ‘legitimacy’ when it comes to sums this great, Jim. The men we took it from in the first place may have got it by means the world considers ‘honest,’ but how many poor men had to slave away to fill the pockets of their <em> betters, </em> eh?” She spat the words. “No less bloody than ol’ Flint’s methods, I say.” Her face was ablaze with righteous anger.</p><p>“Now, Jim, if you would.” Silver held out her hand for Jim’s compass. For a moment, her face was the same one that Jim had come to trust, down in the galley of the <em> Hispaniola. </em> Then Jim blinked, and her face was cruel again, demanding the only thing Jim had left of her family. </p><p>Jim handed it over and felt her chin wobble. She <em> wouldn’t </em> cry. She tried an extra-ferocious glare, but Silver just laughed victoriously.</p><p>They set off across the sand, making their way into the depths of the swampy forest on the island. How Jim had dreamt of this only a few short days ago — decoding the instructions from the map, fighting her way through the underbrush, getting closer and closer to the promised treasure! But now it was all wrong. What a fool she had been.</p><p>Jim marvelled at how easily Silver kept her crew in line as they tramped around the island. They seemed to trust her implicitly. It was a sharp contrast to the low sizzle of doubt that had followed her everywhere on the <em> Hispaniola. </em> Perhaps, Jim thought bitterly, this truly was the only way that a woman could make her way on the seas. Fighting for every inch, lying and cheating her way to the top.</p><p>The crew grew hushed when they saw the dead men swinging amongst the moss on the twisted trees. “Flint’s curse,” Jim heard someone mutter.</p><p>Silver whipped around at the whispers, ire clear on her face. “Lily-livered sons of bilge-rats, the lot of you!” Her voice carried through the clearing. “Flint left these men as a <em> sign </em> for whoever came next! We be on the right track, lads, don’t be giving up on me yet!”</p><p>The pirates had the grace to look abashed at her furious words. </p><p>“Jim, lad, read off the next instruction. By the powers, we’re almost there, I can feel it!”</p><p>Jim gulped and spread the map, and then they were off again.</p><p>The cave was dim and damp as they entered it. Jim heard the rustle of —were they bats, perhaps?— above them as the pirates made their way inside. She glanced uneasily around. The space had the sense of somewhere long abandoned, and their voices echoed eerily in the darkness.</p><p>Silver stopped dead when they arrived at the center of the cave. There was a great hole in the ground, with dusty chests strewn about, covered with cobwebs.</p><p>The crew murmured in wonder. “Easy as anything!” </p><p>“It’s not even buried!” </p><p>Jim could see an uneasy cast on Silver’s features. “Well, gents, open ‘em up, and let’s see what we’ve got!”</p><p>The first hollow thud of a chest opening reverberated through Jim. <em> Empty. </em> They were <em> all </em> empty. </p><p>The pirates looked up at them from the pit of already-plundered treasure. <em> This is when Silver leaves me for dead, isn’t it, </em> Jim thought. <em> If she shoved me towards them, it’d give her just enough time to get away. </em>She glanced over at Silver to see her hand moving towards the flintlock pistol in her belt. </p><p>“Save yourself, Jim!” Silver shouted as she drew. </p><p>Jim took a step back.“I don’t understand!”</p><p>Silver glanced over in frustration. Her eyes were wild and desperate. “Go! I’ll hold them off here!”</p><p>The realisation that Silver was putting Jim’s well-being above her own coursed through Jim like ice water. She didn’t know what to think! It was all happening too fast.</p><p>The pirates were moving closer with murder in their faces. Silver met her gaze again, pleading silently for Jim to go. </p><p>She ran.</p><p>——</p><p>Jim woke to the sound of an uneven tread on the deck of the <em> Hispaniola. </em> She’d had troubling dreams, chains of gold and ropes of pearls, holding her tight. She wiped at her eyes and sat, listening. Was that the splash of a lifeboat being lowered into the water? She stumbled out of her hammock and crept onto the main deck. The moon left strange shadows all about. Jim peered over the gunwale and gasped at the sight of Silver, who had somehow gotten free from the brig. She was seated in one of the ship’s lifeboats and was beginning to row away from the <em> Hispaniola. </em> Two enormous chests of treasure weighed down the little boat. Jim put her whistle to her lips, ready to summon the crew to her aid. </p><p>Silver met her gaze. Jim saw fear, raw and panicked, in how the whites of her eyes showed large in her face. Silver drew her pistol and aimed it at Jim. Had it really come to this? The two of them, at a standoff, both ready to be the cause of the other one’s death?</p><p>“You have to stand trial in Bristol.” Jim’s lips were shaking against the whistle, but her voice was steady. </p><p>She cocked the gun. “Oh, Jim, I can't do that. You know there’s no chance I’d be found innocent. Women have swung before, for piracy.” Her mouth was set in a grim line. “I be terrified of the noose.”</p><p>They seemed to be frozen there for ages, both unable to commit that one last act of betrayal. Jim tried to press the nightmarish image of Silver’s body, limp and lolling at the gallows, out of her head. </p><p>Finally, Silver’s face broke, and she dropped the gun. Jim pulled the whistle away from her lips in horrible relief.</p><p>Silver had tears in her eyes. “I could never harm you, Jim.”</p><p>“Go.” It was barely a whisper. </p><p>Silver set her mouth and looked up at Jim with a calculating glance. “Come with me. What are you going back to, Jim? What’s back there in Bristol for you? Years toiling away as a serving wench? Is that how you want to spend your life?”</p><p>Jim was trembling. How was Silver able to so easily cut to the quick of her, to expose her greatest fears? Jim saw the future spooling out ahead of her: a life eked out among the ruins of the Admiral Benbow, the expectation that she’d someday take a husband, the sea only a whisper of a memory. It all seemed so bleak. </p><p>Then Jim thought of her friends, of Gonzo’s sense of humour and wandering spirit, and Rizzo’s steadfast support, even when terrified. Silver was manipulating her again, making her think that she had nothing and no one else in the world. But it wasn’t true. </p><p>“You’re wrong,” Jim spat out. “My friends care for me, like you never did. Just leave. I never want to see you again.” Silver’s face hardened, but she nodded. </p><p>Silver began rowing away, then scrambled through her pockets. </p><p>“Oh, Jim!” Silver tossed something to her, the moonlight glinting dully off it. Jim looked down to see the compass clutched in her hands. A hiccuping sob ripped out of her throat. At that moment, she thought she could have forgiven Silver everything.</p><p>“Pity, Jim! We could have made a great team!”</p><p>The truth of it shuddered through Jim. They were alike, somehow, underneath it all. She watched the little lifeboat get further and further from the <em> Hispaniola, </em> until it was lost among the reflection of the starlight on the waves. She held the compass to her chest and let the tears come. Would she ever see Silver again?</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Finished, at least for now! At some point I’d love to write a post-canon reunion thing for the two of them, but my WIP list is... very long rn! Someday soon, though, I’m sure. I adore f/f Jim/Silver A LOT.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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